There continues to be increasing pressure to maintain and preferably increase profits for consumer goods and the like. With the advent and expansion of “super stores,” and continuing vitality and efforts of merchandise clubs and the like, further supply side pressures exist.
It remains advantageous to minimize merchandise handling, i.e., resource reliance in getting merchandise from a producer to a store shelf. Retail or shelf-ready packages, e.g., article packs, are believed supremely advantageous as there exist minimal, if any, preparation in transition from shipping to retail display. Moreover, there exists increasing competition for merchandise shelf space, and greater emphasis in connection to the merchandise display hierarchy. Further still, an increasing trend to down size display packages has created challenges for combined shipping-display packages with regard to palletization, namely, maintaining the integrity of the palletized product in distribution. Thus, there generally exists an ongoing tension between merchandise transport/supply needs on the one hand, and merchandise display needs on the other hand.
Efforts to date have yielded a variety of article packs, e.g., container package or case assemblies. Generally well known are container package assemblies characterized by either a traditional carton enclosures to provide a bundling for or containment of grouped articles, or those characterized by film wrapping to provide the bundling for or containment of grouped articles.
As to the former, such carton approach appears commonly practiced in connection to, for example, cylindrical articles such as cans. Paper/card board holders or wrapper forming blanks are and have been well know for such purposes, with adaptations provided in furtherance of splitting, subdividing or accessing the package contents provided.
For example, Dunning (U.S. Pat. No. 3,078,988) discloses a paper board holder formed of a blank characterized by a transverse weakened line of separation. In as much as a single package of six articles may be displayed (FIG. 1 or FIG. 6), a bifurcation of the holder about the transverse weakened line of separation permits the display and offering of two subunits of the packaged articles.
Moreover, as is well known with regard to beverage cans and the like, a twenty-four article pack case, for example, may be adapted to be readily divisible or “splittable” into two twelve article packs and those in turn “splittable” into two six article packs (see e.g., the teachings of Werth (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,249,738, 5,299,733, 5,579,911, & 5,645,163), and/or the carton may be adapted such that the contents thereof are easily accessed by a consumer (see e.g., Brown (U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,570)).
Likewise, a variety of lidded article packs or packages, characterized by one or more discrete or individual trays, are known in the context of traditional carton enclosures for containing grouped and/or bundled articles, for instance, those exemplified by the teachings of Zimmermann et al. (U.S. Publ. No. US 2011/0083986), Nueber et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,431), and Kuhn et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,017) wherein a lid, cover, hood, etc., for cooperative engagement with a tray or article base, is readily removed from the article pack or package assembly, or modified, in furtherance of in-store display of the trayed articles or the separate article trays of the multi-bundle pack. Finally, boxed article packs, such as trayed article groups, are also known, see e.g., Anderson et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0139502 A1, FIGS. 14-17), as are more traditional crate style structures which are suitable for shipping as well as product display, see e.g., Gessler (U.S. Pat. No. 7,604,114 B2).
As to the latter, film wrapping approaches appear widely practiced, with grouped articles, alone or in combination with a base (e.g., a panel such as a pad, tray blank/tray, etc.) so as to form an article pack, with a film wrapper thereabout the combination shrunken to thus define a bundled article pack or package. While single bundle packages or packs are known, see e.g., Bansal et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,892 B2), attention is directed to heretofore known multi-bundle article packs or packages.
For instance, Anderson et al., i.e., one or more of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,887,717, 6,182,422, 6,499,596, 6,588,594, 6,874,633, & 7,370,761 B2, and U.S. Pub. Nos. 2003/0155266 A1 & 2005/0139502 A1, generally disclose film wrapped container package assemblies characterized by containers arranged upon a pair of discrete trays and overlain with a top panel, e.g., a pad. A variety of tray styles are disclosed, namely, those including zero to four sidewalls, e.g., three walled/sided tray, a four-sided tray which permits proper viewing/access to container, and a tray with no sidewalls, i.e., a pad. Moreover, a variety of side-by-side tray arrangements are shown for the multi-bundle film wrapped packs, as are head-to-head, back-to-back, and front-to-back relationships for and between the discrete trays of the film wrapped container package. While the adjacently paired trays are generally held in abutting engagement via the film wrapper, it is likewise known to reversibly unite the adjacently paired trays, via adhesive or the like, in advance of film wrapping. In any event, upon film wrapper removal, each tray of the adjacently paired trays is readily and individually handled for store/shelf display.
Continuing in the context of film wrapped article packs or packages, and generally departing from previously described separate or discrete bundles of the multi-bundle pack, reference is made to Cerveny et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,845,494 B2). A film enclosure or package for gathering bottles of first and second bottle groupings is generally provided. A base panel having first and second portions delimited by a folding line is provided for the receipt of the first and second bottle groupings, with a carrying handle further included and disposed vertically along the fold line thereof. Via a transversal precut in the film wrapper, pivoting of the base portions about the fold line permits access to the handle (FIG. 5) so as to form a handled bundle, i.e., twin pack, (FIG. 6) for improved handling.
While numerous container package assemblies have been noted, including split or splittable shelf-ready packages, attention is next briefly directed to packaging processes/systems for such packages, e.g., to tray packing-shrink wrapping packaging machines. Characteristic of such machines or processing lines are an infeed section or station, a metering or collation section, a tray forming and loading section, an optional stacking section, a film wrapping section and a wrap shrinking section. Further functional particulars are summarized by Neagle et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,336), incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
In connection to processing, no doubt numerous improvements have been made. Considerable attention has been and continues to be directed to making packing processes/machines more flexible and adjustable to accommodate different size articles and different size batches (i.e., a collated group or grouping of articles), while nonetheless limiting downtime for line adaptation/part change-out, and improving, or at least maintaining, overall throughput (i.e., the number of processed articles as a function of run time).
Presumably, productivity increases may be realized via a change in operation from a single line process to a dual line process (see e.g., Neagle et al., FIGS. 1 & 2). Notionally, articles are processed in two parallel lanes to form two distinct final packages, i.e., one “dual” lane machine is intended to function as two single lane machines). Generally, having been selectively collated, an article batch is divided in-line to produce two sub-batches which proceed for simultaneous processing through tray forming and loading operations etc. In as much as Neagle et al. contemplate provisions for a tandem blank from a magazine of tandem blanks, the tandem blank is split (FIG. 6) in advance of tray forming and loading (FIG. 3) wherein parallel processing of the previously bifurcated spaced apart batch collated products commences in furtherance of outputting single packages (i.e., packages comprising single bundles or collated groups).
In as much as dual infeed systems are known and may be commercially available, shortcomings are noted. For example, complications oftentimes quickly arise in connection to simultaneous processing/synchronous operations which quickly break down and thus result in substandard article pack formation. Moreover, in the context of versatile multi-function/purpose lines for increased throughput, the downtime associated with line conversion/adaptation remains an issue.
Thus, in light of the foregoing, it is believed that improvements remain warranted in the context of a cost effective, versatile low bulk article pack or package which is capable of handling a plurality of articles and which may be readily transitioned into a shelf-ready package or packages without much fanfare. In addition to providing a substantial consumer view of the merchandise and relatively free access thereto and therefrom, the article pack or packs should include sufficient area or areas to carry and/or display product related indicia inuring to the benefit of all parties to the transaction, i.e., consumers, merchandisers, distributors, manufacturers, etc., more particularly, an area or areas which are readily provided with one or more data or information fields during the package production and/or formation process remains advantageous. Further still, with regard to the production of such package assemblies, minimizing processing downtime for line adaptations, and increasing overall article throughput for such lines in connection to the processing of articles into one or more collated batches which in turn may be bundled as circumstances warrant continue to be not insubstantial considerations with regard to advancement of the art.